The best way to get ready to make your holiday gifts is to make a plan. Here's a practical guide and some template downloads for you to create a Dare To Make it Journal that'll help you to make it for the holidays and enjoy the experience!

I love that extraordinary people with amazing back stories are all around us...if we only look and engage them in conversation. I think it's tremendous that he finds such inspiration in what some might find a mundane day job.

Turtlelove: Hambly can be found at http://www.hamblyscreenprints.com/. I adore their designs.

MegiFod: You could definitely try to put Mod Podge or a sealant over the transfers on most surfaces and I've seen fabric Mod Podge or a fabric sealant put over a transfer on fabric. Experiment with them. I sort of like the look of a transfer as it sort of wears off fabric. Def don't use them on something you need to wash a lot. Tins or vases or candle votive holders are great choices.

Thanks Jeffrey. I feel like you are like Dr. Seuss's Lorax and instead of speaking for the trees, you're speaking for the crafters. I am always telling my friends to value their work and take into account their time and their imagination and talent but I often have a hard time asking for what I'm worth when the time comes. This is a terrific article, because it's so frank about the entire process.

Phew, I'm tired thinking about all the work you all put into it, as well as exhilarated by the creativity that you brought to a simple material. Well done, all of you, and thanks especially to Jessica, who I can second was a life-saver throughout the show.

I think you could do with for about $15, depending on if you have any brushes, sandpaper, or spray varnish already around the house. It was suprisingly cheap. I bought most everything at my local Ace Hardware.

It was between 250 and 300 and using an 18-stitch repeat. It might have been 288 plus the 6 garter stitches on each side, for a total of 300 stitches. I'm not quite sure. Knitters will have to figure it out, based on the weight of their yarn and how long their want their shawl to be.

Thanks for all of the well-wishes, ladies. Linda, I am busy knitting the first of what will be many more mindless hat projects. I was so happy to get that going. The Tudors Season 2 is helping as well.

This is so beautifully thought out and beautifully written. It provides me with new inspiration when I'm feeling, frankly, a bit burnt out as a writer and crafter. It makes me think back to my very handy parents and grandparents, who just looked around and made do. I'm going to adopt your resolutions as best I can and build on them if possible. Thanks!

Michaela, I'm glad to know another wackadoo crafter, although my craft lie is a bit more of the garden variety: I let all my non-crafty friends think I'm a white witch, miracle worker, or some other magical creature who can actually create a RIBBED HAT or BEADED EARRINGS. Seriously. Apparently, I surround myself with craft-challenged loved ones!

Avery makes all sorts of white and clear labels. I basically whipped up my label with some fonts in MS Word and printed it out on the sheet of labels. You could also buy tags and get creative with some rubber stamps or colored pens. Good luck and have fun with it.

Jeffrey! This is the most incredible thing. I just kept muttering "Omigod, omigod, omigod" as I looked at this post and saw all the photos of what meticulous talent went into producing such a work of art. You elevate crafting and this site into the heavens.

They sell rectangle wire in the store of Fusion Beads in Seattle. I don't think they sell it online. However, I do think they have it at Jewelry Resource & Supply: http://www.jewelryresourcesupply.com/

This is so the Afterschool Special that I would have liked to have seen. My God, it's so tragic and sad but I hope it's somehow funny in hindsight. I love that you wanted to be such a dramatic character as the phantom. You are now the dramatic character. You don't need a costume!

Michaela, your post made tears well up. I get so mushy over crafting and friends. Asia_Tatiana, I think a craft swap would be the perfect event for Halloween itself, as I don't usually dress up and the idea of donning librarian glasses, putting my hair up in a bun with bangs, and carrying around a bloody stuffed wolf as Sarah Palin just depresses me. Better to swap that fabric my mom sent me for someone else's evil eye beads! Great idea. Check out my post on how to host a craft swap here: http://www.craftstylish.com/item/2810/how-to-host-a-fun-and-fancy-craft-swap. And for tips on recycling that unfortunate store-bought sweater, see Lee Meredith's post: http://www.craftstylish.com/item/9839/how-to-recycle-yarn-from-a-thrift-store-sweater.

We CraftStylish folks could tell those economists a thing or two (we could at least teach them how to knit, which is what I did for two days straight after 9/11).

Oh my, can I relate! I think some people on flights think I am indulging in performance art and wanting to start a dialogue about knitting or what I'm doing. Leave me be. The last flight I was on with a screaming baby had massive delays. The pilot came on and said, "We want to get to the gate just as much as you." I said really loudly, "I really don't think that's true." I refrained from punctuating my remarks with my knitting needle.

I feel that this article is destined to become a classic. I can totally relate. I've made things for people to show off my skills without really thinking about them and their tastes. Now I do a lot of reconnaissance to determine if the recipient is going to "GET" the import of the hand-made gift. No more making socks for people who look at you and say one of two things:

Great ideas, Daphne! I actually just scored two baggies full of crochet needles and rug hooks and spools of thread at Value Village last month. Each bag was a $1.95 and chock-full of tools. Now I just need to learn to crochet and hook a rug. But if you have the materials, it will come, right?

Gosh that was fun but I'm now back in the first circle of hell, writing a book about crafts without time to make anything really for fun. I guess at least I'm still crafting but when a book is due in two weeks and you have 20 projects still to do, the fun sort of scurries out the window. Hence, I think a regular Michaela fix is on order. Have you seen those pillows? They are totes gorg. My PJs are a bit wonky but hey, they're PJs, right?

I drink. Just kidding. I just wrote about craft burnout on my blog yesterday (jenniferworick.blogspot.com) as I'm churning out projects for an 8/15 book deadline. And because they are for the book, I can't even crow about how brilliant everything is. Again, just kidding. I think I clean and do some productive procrastination when I need to clear my head. I don't know how many times I've reorganized my sweater shelf in the past few years but it's a tried-and-true lifesaver. Sadly, since I photographed all of my shoes and then printed out, laminated, and stuck the photos onto the various plastic shoe boxes, I can't do much more reorganization on that front...

You are killing me with the Michigan pendant, lady! I could stop putting my hand up and pointing to where I'm from. The pendant could serve the same purpose. Must...back...away...from...etsy...purchase. I dropped about $70 on craftpudding stamps the other night because of the CS post that make me aware of how flippin' cute they are.

While I love this, it's hard to see the book itself removed. Maybe the pages could be bound up and sold along with the handbag. How else would someone know that the paintings with the scarlet slippers are hiding smuggled jewels? Maybe I'm too picky, but I am still obsessed with Nancy, as evidenced by my book, "Nancy Drew's Guide to Life."

I edited Liz's Silver Wire Fusing and it is a wonderful introduction to fusing fine silver with a torch. Playing with fire is so much fun! Liz includes a wide variety of jewelry projects to suit any taste and once you fuse your first hoop, you'll be off and running. I'm wearing the wormhole earrings right now!

Geez, Michaela, way to get me started on another craft obsession. I could look all day at the full-skirted 50s patterns. Very Nancy Drew! But those tiny waists! Oy. They weren't eating a second slice of pie, that's for sure. And that's just so sad (I say as I rub my belly).

I craft a LOT in front of the TV. I have my American Idol cabled hat, my Project Runway crystal ring, my Pride & Prejudice heirloom necklace, my drunken What Not to Wear scarf that I absolutely do wear, you get the idea. I also find that my grandmother's tiny pair of stork-shaped sewing scissors come in handy with most of my handicrafts.